do you have chris Hightower's book and DVD's ???? that is a good place to start..... and take the previous advice and click ARCHIVES on the bottom of the page and read ALL... yes ALL the ASK THE CUEMAKER...............

you jumped in with both feet............. I hope you can swim

Kim

Lol. Yes I can swim very well. I think. Lol. And yes I bought Hightower DVDs and book. I've luckily had that knack to be good at everything I have ever tried to do in life. Like all phases of construction. I do very well. I own my own little construction company. And rental properties. And so the work on all of them. And I've always been a really good athlete at every sport. So I'm great with my hands. And used to be a great drawer. So I'm hoping I can take any or all that and take my personality of wanting/needing to be the best at anything I do. I'm hoping I can practice and get great at cue building also. I figured worst case senecio if it doesn't take off. Minimum I could do enough cues to have my hobby pay for itself. And when I get closer to retirement and hopefully by then. I will have 10 to 15 years of building under my belt and hopefully turn out a great cue. So that's why I'm so appreciative of you guys giving me the great advice here. So help me jump start this endeavor Cause I'm seeing cue building is a lot like Carpenters. They don't like to share there trade secrets. So I truly am thankful for the replies so far. So please keep the advice coming. I'm soaking it in like a sponge.

do you have chris Hightower's book and DVD's ???? that is a good place to start..... and take the previous advice and click ARCHIVES on the bottom of the page and read ALL... yes ALL the ASK THE CUEMAKER...............

you jumped in with both feet............. I hope you can swim

Kim

That ^. To go a step beyond that, may I suggest that you need a solid introductory. Have you considered hiring an advisor for a long weekend? You aren't like most guys who come on here having just bought a little cue lathe & half dozen shafts. You got the whole enchilada. It would be IMMENSELY beneficial to you if somebody could come to your shop, inventory your equipment & supplies, help you set the shop up for efficient work, walk you through the basics of making a cue, then get you set up with supply distributors. Take plenty notes & don't be afraid to video & pic things for future reference. I'd recommend asking somebody who makes cues most similar to the style direction you wish to pursue.

Take that with a grain of salt. You have a lot of stuff, a fairly large investment. Without some guidance, you're in the deep end. I have no idea what it would cost to pay a maker to help you, if you can even find one, but it would put you light years ahead of the curve and quite possibly make the difference between an investment & an inconvenient waste of money.

That ^. To go a step beyond that, may I suggest that you need a solid introductory. Have you considered hiring an advisor for a long weekend? You aren't like most guys who come on here having just bought a little cue lathe & half dozen shafts. You got the whole enchilada. It would be IMMENSELY beneficial to you if somebody could come to your shop, inventory your equipment & supplies, help you set the shop up for efficient work, walk you through the basics of making a cue, then get you set up with supply distributors. Take plenty notes & don't be afraid to video & pic things for future reference. I'd recommend asking somebody who makes cues most similar to the style direction you wish to pursue.

Take that with a grain of salt. You have a lot of stuff, a fairly large investment. Without some guidance, you're in the deep end. I have no idea what it would cost to pay a maker to help you, if you can even find one, but it would put you light years ahead of the curve and quite possibly make the difference between an investment & an inconvenient waste of money.

Yes that is exactly what I'm looking for. Lol. . I live about an hour north of Kansas City. And would love if a veteran cue builder could come and help set shop up and do all you stated in your post. Help me get going. Does anyone know someone who could do that for me. Thanks for the really insightful post qbuilder

Yes that is exactly what I'm looking for. Lol. . I live about an hour north of Kansas City. And would love if a veteran cue builder could come and help set shop up and do all you stated in your post. Help me get going. Does anyone know someone who could do that for me. Thanks for the really insightful post qbuilder

If I were in your position and your location I would contact Leonard Bludworth. If he's feeling good enough I bet he would come up for a week or so at a reasonable rate. He offered me to come up here if I would transport him and that was AFTER he called me a liar and I called him a crook. But his health may not be well enough now.

If I were in your position and your location I would contact Leonard Bludworth. If he's feeling good enough I bet he would come up for a week or so at a reasonable rate. He offered me to come up here if I would transport him and that was AFTER he called me a liar and I called him a crook. But his health may not be well enough now.

Yes that is exactly what I'm looking for. Lol. . I live about an hour north of Kansas City. And would love if a veteran cue builder could come and help set shop up and do all you stated in your post. Help me get going. Does anyone know someone who could do that for me. Thanks for the really insightful post qbuilder

It would be good if you had somebody nearby, so travel expenses wouldn't be an issue. Having somebody nearby would also be nice to have as an ally of sorts. While in NM, Wes Hunter & Myself not only helped one another out with projects & such, we also split a lot of material costs. It wasn't uncommon for one of us to need a certain something & the other had it to give, such as a piece of amboyna burl, some delrin joint protectors, a table saw blade, etc. I don't off hand know any makers in Kansas City, but i'm sure somebody is there or near. Otherwise, reach out to some makers who interest you & ask. I have no idea what kind of reception you'll get or what it might cost, but I wouldn't think anybody will be rude or off putting. I do know that it's not uncommon, although I have never seen it mentioned on here. Lots of the older makers learned exactly that way from other makers. Bludworth used to sell machinery to makers, then come set up their shop & teach them basic cue making. He's he helped a lot of makers, but is now retired.

It would be good if you had somebody nearby, so travel expenses wouldn't be an issue. Having somebody nearby would also be nice to have as an ally of sorts. While in NM, Wes Hunter & Myself not only helped one another out with projects & such, we also split a lot of material costs. It wasn't uncommon for one of us to need a certain something & the other had it to give, such as a piece of amboyna burl, some delrin joint protectors, a table saw blade, etc. I don't off hand know any makers in Kansas City, but i'm sure somebody is there or near. Otherwise, reach out to some makers who interest you & ask. I have no idea what kind of reception you'll get or what it might cost, but I wouldn't think anybody will be rude or off putting. I do know that it's not uncommon, although I have never seen it mentioned on here. Lots of the older makers learned exactly that way from other makers. Bludworth used to sell machinery to makers, then come set up their shop & teach them basic cue making. He's he helped a lot of makers, but is now retired.

Leonard was retired when I talked to him about three years ago but he was also bored and broke.

JC

John ChaplinCoos Cuesjchaplin@charter.netIt's not what you don't know that get's you in trouble.
It's what you know that just ain't so.

It would be good if you had somebody nearby, so travel expenses wouldn't be an issue. Having somebody nearby would also be nice to have as an ally of sorts. While in NM, Wes Hunter & Myself not only helped one another out with projects & such, we also split a lot of material costs. It wasn't uncommon for one of us to need a certain something & the other had it to give, such as a piece of amboyna burl, some delrin joint protectors, a table saw blade, etc. I don't off hand know any makers in Kansas City, but i'm sure somebody is there or near. Otherwise, reach out to some makers who interest you & ask. I have no idea what kind of reception you'll get or what it might cost, but I wouldn't think anybody will be rude or off putting. I do know that it's not uncommon, although I have never seen it mentioned on here. Lots of the older makers learned exactly that way from other makers. Bludworth used to sell machinery to makers, then come set up their shop & teach them basic cue making. He's he helped a lot of makers, but is now retired.

Yes Doug Patrick is out of Kansas City area. I asked him. He said he mite be interested after the Midwest 9 ball tour this week Maybe after that. To help me out Alittle. Not sure to what extend yet. So thanks for the heads up of alerting that a cue builder mite do this for me. Keep any advice you guys can spare coming please.

Yes Doug Patrick is out of Kansas City area. I asked him. He said he mite be interested after the Midwest 9 ball tour this week Maybe after that. So thanks for the heads up of alerting that a cue builder mite do this for me. Keep any advice you guys can spare coming please.

Good! That's the best case scenario, and Doug knows how to make a nice cue. Take good care of him & no doubt you'll learn far more in a few days than you'd ever learn from reading this forum. The forum is good if you need a band-aid on a scratch. You need a surgeon.

Take Doug down to Kurzweil Country Meats about 20ml south of the city, in Missouri. Eat some of the best BBQ on the planet, then ask for Chris & tell him you all are cue makers. Chris knows a thing or two about cues & cue making himself, and is about the finest example of a human being as you'll ever encounter. Seriously worth your time.

Good! That's the best case scenario, and Doug knows how to make a nice cue. Take good care of him & no doubt you'll learn far more in a few days than you'd ever learn from reading this forum. The forum is good if you need a band-aid on a scratch. You need a surgeon.

Take Doug down to Kurzweil Country Meats about 20ml south of the city, in Missouri. Eat some of the best BBQ on the planet, then ask for Chris & tell him you all are cue makers. Chris knows a thing or two about cues & cue making himself, and is about the finest example of a human being as you'll ever encounter. Seriously worth your time.

Wow. Hell yeah. Nothing like some great bbq and even better conversation. Lol. Thanks for that . That's awesome.

Take Doug down to Kurzweil Country Meats about 20ml south of the city, in Missouri. Eat some of the best BBQ on the planet, then ask for Chris & tell him you all are cue makers. Chris knows a thing or two about cues & cue making himself, and is about the finest example of a human being as you'll ever encounter. Seriously worth your time.

It would be good if you had somebody nearby, so travel expenses wouldn't be an issue. Having somebody nearby would also be nice to have as an ally of sorts. While in NM, Wes Hunter & Myself not only helped one another out with projects & such, we also split a lot of material costs. .

That is good advice. I used to go in with other local cuemakers on wood and such to be able to get a good price. When we formed the ICA, that was one of the goals we had. We did some things like that as a group a few times and as the ICA forum participation level has died down so did the group buys.